Telephone card holder



Feb. 5, 1952 a WE TL K'E, JR 2,584,769

TELEPHONE CARD HOLDER Filed Sept. 15. 1947 l I INVENTOR. Y 9

6'1 #arm: 3.

Patented Feb. 5, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

. 2,584,769 TELEPHONE CARD HOLDER; I Edward B. Westlake, J r.,Havertown, Pa.

Application September 13, 1947, Serial No. 773,873 1 can. (01. 40-10)This invention relates to an information panel and more particularly toa panel of the type used on telephones and the like. T

It is recognized that a large number of indicia holders have beendesigned for use on telephones and the like and that some of these haveincluded removable or changeable indicia mem-v bers. In view of thelarge volume of holders sold from year to year and in view of the needfor these holders to convey important instruc: tions and information tothe telephone users so as to eliminate needless delays andmisunderstandings, it is obvious that minor changes and improvementsare'of great importance. It is an object of this invention to provide .alowzcost indicia holder in which theinformation to be conveyed ispresented in an effective manner and in which it is possible to makechanges in the information given with a minimum of effort and cost. I I"More specifically, it is an object of this invention to providean'indicia' holder wherein the front piece of the holder is made of aprotective transparent panel and in which that portion of theinformation which requires no changing from time to time is distinctlyprinted on the back face of the transparent panel and in which thatportion of the information which may require changing is printed onseparate pieces insertable into and removable from a pocket provideddirectly behind one portion of the transparent panel.

A further object of this invention is to provide a holder for thetelephone number and the name of the telephone exchange wherein each ofthe digits of the telephone number is printed on a separate piece ofcardboard or the like and is held in place in the holder along withother digits by means of a key member on which the name of the telephoneexchange is placed.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangementfor concealing the lines of separation between the fixed portionslof theindicia holder and the removable portions of the indicia holder.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangementfor facilitating the removal of the removable indicia members.

A still further object of this invention is. to eliminate unnecessarylight reflection or glare from the rear face of the transparent panel.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention reside in theconstruction and combination of parts and in the mode of operation aswill be apparent from the following description,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferredform of the present invention is clearly shown. j

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of an indicia holder of the type used onpay telephones; and

Figure-2 is a rear perspective view of the holder with parts brokenaway.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein I have shown a preferred form ofmy invention, reference numeral Ill designates a front panel memberformed of transparent material which prevents defacing of the panel, andwhich has printedon its back'face standard information which never needsto be changed and which has been designated by the reference numeral l2.For purposes of illustration, the information material designatedby thereferencenumeral l2 gives instructions on how to dial 54. calls. Thisinformation and any other similar information is preferably printed inblack letters and the rest of the panel, except for the two windowportions designated by the reference numerals l4 and I5, is coated with.a brilliant contrasting color such as orange or the like. The colorsused and the exact information given can be varied to suit conditions.The transparent panel member isglued or otherwise secured to anintermediate member [8 which is provided with cut away portions 20 and22 adapted to receive respectively, a key piece of cardboard or the like30 on which the name of the telephone exchange appears and a pluralityof cardboard members 28 bearing the proper digits for the telephonenumber. A back piece 24 is pasted or otherwise secured to the rear faceof the intermediate member IB so as to cooperate with the members l0 and(8 in forming a pocket for the members 28 and 30. The cut away portions20 and 22 together form a substantially T-shaped pocket in which thepieces 28 and 30 are placed in tiers in such a manner that the piece 30in the upper tier serves as a key for holding the pieces 28 in the lowertier in place. The members [8 and 24 may be made. of any suitablematerial such as cardboard or the like. The advantage of using cardboardis that they may readily be glued together and may be manufactured at alow cost.

The rear cardboard member 24 is provided with a plurality of elongatedslots 26 which correspond in number to the number of cardboard elements28 used for the digits. The slots 26 serve as a meansfor gaining accessto the rear portions of the inserts 28 and 30 so as to facilitateremoval of the inserts when it is necessary to 3 change the numbers orname of the exchange.

In order to conceal the fact that the element 3!) is not a part of themember IS, a heavy line 32, preferably black, has been printed on therear face of the transparent member so as to cover up and conceal thegap between the outer edges of the member 30 and the slot 20.

The construction and arrangement of parts makes it possible to make thetelephone number large enough for anyone to see and to arrange the restof the information or printing directly on the back of the front panelso that dirt or dust cannot lodge between the panel and the printing andso that there is no glare from the rear surface of the transparentpanel. Brilliant and distinct colors may be used and these may identifyvarious types of service and one type card with various inserts can beused for the entire telephone system.

By virtue of the above described arrangement, the initial cost of thepanels as well as the maintenance cost has been reduced at the same timethat the effectiveness of the panel has been increased.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claim whichfollows:

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In an information panel for use in displaying the name of a telephoneexchange and the telephone number, the combination including a frontpanel member of transparent material, an intermediate panel memberadhesively secured to the front panel member, said intermediate panelmember being provided with a pair of cutaway portions one above theother, the lower cutaway portion being substantially rectangular, theupper cutaway portion being also substantially rectangular but longerthan the lower cutaway portion so as to provide a pair of shoulders oneadjacent each end of the lower cutaway portion, a backing membercoextensive with the front panel member adhesively secured to theintermediate panel member so that the front panel member, the margins ofthe cutaway portions of the intermediate panel member and the backingmember cooperate to form a substantially T- shaped pocket, a pluralityof rectangular members being located side by side in the lower cutawayportion, the height of the rectangular members being equal to the heightof the lower cutaway portion, the rectangular members being so arrangedas to form the telephone number, and a rectangular key member fillingthe upper cutaway portion, said key member bearing the name of thetelephone exchange and having a length substantially equal to the lengthof the upper cutaway portion and seated therein so as to hold the firstmentioned rectangular members in position, the width of the key membersbeing substantially equal to the height of the upper cutaway portion,the ends of the key member resting upon the shoulders adjacent the endsof the lower cutaway portion, the thickness of all of the rectangularmembers being substantially equal to the thickness of the intermediatepanel member, the rear-surface of the transparent panel member beingprovided with opaque areas overlying the margins of both of the cutawayportions and the adjacent margins of the rectangular members so as toconceal the seam between the rectangular members and the intermediatepanel member so as to display the name of the telephone exchange and thetelephone number within the frame formed by the opaque areas.

EDWARD B. WES'I'LAKE, Jn.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 479,758 Gunn July 26, 18921,116,384 Case Nov. 10, 1914 1,659,298 Lefkowitz Feb. 14, 1928 1,845,650Cox Feb. 16, 1932 1,845,747 Gutberlet Feb. 16, 1932 1,851,245 FischerMar. 29, 1932 2,083,872 Siegel June 15, 1937 2,105,685 Cox Jan. 18. 19382,385,778 Evalt Oct. 2. 1945

